Should we edit reviews ?
Heey my people !
It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve really wrote alot of bookish/bloggish discussions, doesn’t it? Well today I have a question for you all !
What do you think of editing reviews ? (content-wise or appearance)
As most of you should know, I participated in a blog tour this month. I really struggled with my reading and decided to still post my review on my set date even though I wasn’t done yet.
What happened is: I had previously gave it 3stars, as the middle got me kinda “eh”. However, after the ending left me “!!!”, I decided to give this book an extra star – brigning it up to 4 stars out of 5. It just felt right to edit my post, crossing what I had previously wrote to add the new ones. I didn’t wanted to completely delete the previous thoughts, because I want the future readers to see it had been changed.
Also the reason why I wouldn’t wanna fix my former review posts with the format I currently use, as I believe it shows how I have grown as a reviewer and a blogger. Sure, they look awful, but I want to be able to look back onto my different review styles and see how it improved; potentially see what worked best on that previous style and mix the two together.
What do you think ?
- As a reader, what do you think of blogger who edit/reformat their reviews ?
- Do you prefer to delete everything and not show what it used to be?
- Are you keen on seeing how your reviews improved or you want them all to look the same?
- Additionally, if you re-read a book you have previously reviewed on your blog and see your thoughts had change ; would you consider write a second review revisited, or would you rather add it to the bottom of the former one, including the reread date ?
If a blogger revisits a book and the review for that book, I would like to see the previous thoughts as well as the current ones. If I’m reading a rewrite then I would sort of expect that blogger/reviewer to bring up their previous impressions, because their change of perspective or point of view must have changed for a reason, and I’d be interested in seeing what that reason is.
If I was to do a rewrite or edit I think I would create a new post, but that’s really just my preference in regard to formatting and such.
I see what you mean, yeah !
Personally, I would either A) edit the existing review with a line added to devide the two and add the date of the reread or B) include a link of the former review and revisit my thoughts ?
Can I edit my comment to also say: I think it would depend too on how much is being edited or rewritten. 😝
Ahaha yeah! If you pass from 5 to 2 stars eeeeh – some things to ellaborate on xd
😄😄
I am all for updating or re-reviewing a book. We as people change and we should be able to be comfortable with that.
yep, I agree !
I haven’t really thought about it but I know there’s at least one review I’d like to edit since I think I gave it more stars than it actually deserved
Oh- yeah might wanna change that ..
I think it is okay to edit a review. It’s a synopsis of your thoughts and opinion. Now that I’m thinking about it, I would maybe place a note/asterisk by the part that I want to change. Then note below the date and what my update was. That way the reader understands what my initial reaction may have been, but after time, what my revised opinion was.
Yes!
The way I did it, I crossed the words of what was there before and rewrote under the actual final thoughts. So they can see « oh okay, it went from there to there. » i believe I also mentionned how it wad made before I was done and although it was a « meh » part, the ending was worth it.
I think that is a great way to do it!
Great question! I have looked back before at some of my old reviews and have often wished I had written it a little differently or mentioned something I didn’t, but have hardly changed anything.
If I chose to edit it I would probably create a new post.
I see, though if you do a new one, i think you might aswell do it if you gave it another go and the thoughts had changed. Or else I dont really see the point; you might aswell just edit the existing post and « re-share » it on social medias 🤔
I think it would make the review more interesting if you had a little ‘Edited to Add’ section with your thoughts on a second read (if they have changed). There might be something you noticed in that 2nd read that you didn’t notice before, so you are making the review more thorough and adding a different angle. I cringe when I see some of my first reviews but like you say, it shows how much progression you have made.
Same !! 😂😂🤦🏽♀️
All in one bloc basically just « I LOVE THIS » without pointing anything or why…
But yes! I agree. Maybe place the date it was first posted beside the first text, and then add the date of the review too, so they can see the division/change of thoughts. And while you’re at it, change the format ahaha
I did old reviews usually for updating the format. And then if I find some errors I might edit them. Since I dont give rating stars on my blog, I do not have to worry about changing that.
hmm the first three reviews I ever did sucked, the third didn’t suck as much as the other one but alas…I intend to go back and format my old reviews into the new style but I’ll leave the content as it was. Only so it’s easier for readers to navigate through my reviews and not wonder what happened to the layout.
Yeah, true. I see what you mean
I usually don’t go back and edit my reviews, however, there have been a few times that I changed my rating because my feelings changed after I had written the review. I think if you’re completely changing your mind about the book and add things to the review to show that change, then keeping the old review and adding the new section is a good way to go.
Yep, I totally twin your train of thoughts!
This is a great question! There are those books You love or dislike. Easy. This question comes up when I’m struggling to write a review for those I love parts and disliked other aspects of the story. Early on I’ve published reviews with some regrets after giving it more thought. My fingers were itching to edit. Now, I write my initial thoughts and set aside the review if I am wavering. Then come back after a few weeks of sitting and decide. Many times I’m able to clarify my thoughts after time. ❤️❤️ Great discussion.
Ohh thats a good way!
Usually id write everything no problem, but the part im struggling is with what # of star to give it… is this a 3 or a 4, you know?
I’m definitely okay with bloggers changing their reviews! I mean, our thoughts are sort of never definite, so it’s definitely okay to change what we’ve written. I’ve never saved old thoughts when I edit reviews, but that makes SO MUCH sense. I should start doing that!
– Aimee @ Aimee, Always
good point, good point !
yay, I think you should ! always interresting to see what changed and why – good or bad. It shall gives a better idea for whoever who’s thinking of reading said book, I believe.
I am totally okay with bloggers editing their reviews. There can be various reasons to do that. Sometimes, we do it to improve the formatting while the other time it can be to edit the rating. And it’s totally okay. Maybe over the year, for example, you reread a book and you felt differently about it. then it is totally fine to change the rating and your thoughts. But yes the best way would be to include both the initial and recent thoughts 🙂
I am surprised to see we all mostly agrees on that ! I also got feedback I didn’t really thought of when I wrote it – isn’t this just the best about conversation posts? :3
Thank you for your imput, sim !
I think it’s fine to edit reviews but not to rewrite them completely. Sometimes we look back and find the odd grammar error or perhaps another way to phrase a sentence to make it more understandable. Great post!
Yes, I agree.
I think most of all, we shouldn’t remove the original message we had said – but feel free to include the changement in our thoughts. if we’d remove it, the reader lose a part of our process into loving or disliking the book.
I am usually too lazy to edit reviews xD it’s passed and it’s gone into the past now, so I don’t usually come back 😀 but yes, I often change my mind about the number of stars after some time passes. It’s funny how it works like that.
Same xD though I don’t have much im like eh… nope.
honestly it doesn’t happen to me quite often, though it’s much more that I know what im gonna say first and then the stars rating is more harder to wrap my head around, you know ?
This is a really interesting question! I think that we should be able to change our minds about books, so why not change our reviews? For example, I read Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children in 2012 and gave it 5 stars on Goodreads. But I just finished rereading it with my husband, and I did not like it nearly as much. I bumped it down to a 3 star read. Anyways, thanks for such a great discussion post! It made me think 🙂
yes ! totally, I think we can be more analytical the second time around, when in a first read we couldve miss some problematic things and such.. or with aging our excitement for this particular plot changed.
I prefer adding an *EDITED* to reviews (on Goodreads) rather than actually deleting anything I’ve previously written, because seeing my thoughts change makes me remember how I felt while reading the books. And on re-reading – I usually don’t review books I’m re-reading, but if I ever did, I’d probably add on to the existing review with the re-read date.
yep, I agree!
Really great discussion! I don’t edit my old Reviews, only when it has come to my attention that there was a problematic aspect in the book that I hadn’t noticed at the time. Then I would write a little Edit and after that a short sentence about that 🙂
Yes! Id do the same to include trigger warnings and such